Traffic shaping of cellular service consumption through delaying of service completion according to geographical-based pricing advantages

ABSTRACT

Changes in user behavior of usage of wireless services from a mobile device are encouraged in order to effect shaping of traffic and utilization patterns among a plurality of cells within a rate plan region, wherein a discount indicator disposed in said mobile device is provided to notify a user of a discount available for consuming wireless service from a given cell. A geo-cost policy is established for that user or mobile device in which rules and conditions according to the available discounts and class of service are defined. A service completer queues services and automatically completes queued services upon present conditions meeting said geo-cost policy rules, such as delaying and later delivering messages when the mobile device is relocated to a cell where discounts are being offered.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/912,478, filed on Aug. 5, 2004, by ChristopherJ. Dawson, et al., which is commonly assigned with the present patentapplication.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STATEMENT

This invention was not developed in conjunction with anyFederally-sponsored contract.

MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/912,478, filed on Aug. 05,2004, by Christopher J. Dawson, et al., is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety, including figures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This patent application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/912,478, filed on Aug. 5, 2004, by ChristopherJ. Dawson, et al., which is now pending.

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to technologies and business processes fordynamic cellular phone rate pricing based on cellular traffic patterns,and especially to methods and systems which encourage consumer behaviorchanges which optimize loading of equipment and return on investment forcellular infrastructure.

2. Description of the Related Art

Millions of people around the world use cellular phones as a means toconnect talk with one another and to access to various sources ofinformation. With a cellular telephone, users are able to use anincredible array of features and functions such as storing contactinformation, making to-do task lists, sending or receiving text or voicemessages and being able to connect to the Internet.

Regardless of the makes and models of cellular phones being supplied tothe marketplace, cellular phone companies actively offer different rateplans to attract and retain new and existing customers. Various rateplans include, but are not limited to, prepaid, area-limited and eitherone or two-tiers of time-based services such as “peak,” “off-peak,” and“nights and weekends.” The last being the most commonly used in today'smarketplace.

A cell phone is actually a sophisticated radio that functions along withcell phone towers. The battery-powered, portable devices which performwireless networking for voice and/or data communications as all or partof their functionality are well known in the art, including but notlimited to:

-   (a) cellular telephones;-   (b) wireless web browsers;-   (c) cordless telephones and cordless small office/home office (SOHO)    telephone switch systems;-   (d) laptop computers, palm top computers and personal digital    assistants (PDA) equipped with wireless local area network (LAN) or    cellular data interface cards; and-   (e) one-way, two-way, text and voice pagers and terminal devices.

For the remainder of this description, we will refer primarily tocellular telephone examples and implementations to be representative ofa range of these devices. Certain terms from cellular telephone parlanceare analogous in functionality to terms from other networkingtechnologies, such as Personal Communications Systems (“PCS”) towersbeing similar to “base stations” or wireless access points. It will bereadily recognized by those skilled in the art, however, that theproblems and the invention presented herein are common to all thevarious wireless network battery-powered devices as previouslyexemplified.

A key aspect of each cellular system is the division of a service areainto small “cells”, each cell being served by a single tower, accesspoint or base station. Turning to FIG. 1, two “cells” (10, 11) are showngeographically adjacent to each other, each cell having a “tower” (12,13) located at its center. Typically, cells are considered to be ofhexagonal shapes (15, 17) for network planning and management purposesin PCS architecture, but in reality, the signals from the towerspropagate equally well for a generally circular area (14, 16) ofcoverage. This often produces areas of coverage overlap (18) betweenadjacent cells. In practice, a cellular system (19) comprises multiplecells in a honeycomb arrangement, but only two adjacent cells are shownhere for ease of understanding.

When a terminal device such as a PCS handset or wireless web browser isat a position P₁ outside of reception range (14, 16) of a tower withinthe system, the device will be unable to perform its functions such asmaking or receiving telephone calls, performing data communications,receiving text messages, etc. Most systems will continuously “search”for a tower signal, performing some type of protocol to make contactwith one or more towers which may be within reception range.

This process of searching may simply include measuring a signal strengthon a frequency and/or channel from the tower, or may be more active suchas sending or transmitting a signal from the device's transmitter toinitiate a contact with an in-range tower. While the former approachwill consume some power for the search, the latter almost alwaysconsumes even more power as transmission of signals is usually a morepower intensive operation than simply receiving a signal.

As a device reaches or travels to a position P₂ in the “fringe” area ofcoverage for a tower, it may detect a usable signal strength from thetower (12) within its reception range, and/or may be able to effectivelytransmit a code, registration or other signal to the tower (12). At thisposition, the device is technically within the tower's cell (10).

The “logging in” or “registration” process as a device enters a tower'scell varies between different wireless technologies. For example, theregistration process employed by PCS systems is different than theregistration process used by its predecessor “analog” (e.g. “AMPS”)cellular system, and both are very different than the registrationprocess employed by wireless data networking technologies such asBlueTooth, IEEE 802.11b, Motorola's Ricochet network, two-way pagernetworks, etc. For illustrative purposes, however, we now present abrief overview of the PCS registration process.

Cell phones and base stations use low-power transmitters, so that thesame frequencies can be reused in non-adjacent cells which allowsmillions of people to use cell phones simultaneously. Each citycomprises, for example, of hundreds of towers while each carrier in eachcity runs one central office called Mobile Telephone Switching Office(“MTSO”), which handles all of the phone connections to the normalland-based phone system and controls all of the base stations in theregion. A cell phone is composed of three unique codes that helpcarriers identify each gadget and facilitate call transmission. Eachcell phone has its unique 32-bit number programmed into the phone whenit is manufactured called Electronic Serial Number (“ESN”). Once serviceis activated, the cell phone will have the 10-digit phone number calledthe Mobile Identification Number (“MIN”) and an unique 5-digit numberthat assigns to each carrier (e.g. Spring, MCI, AT&T, Verizon, etc.) bythe Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) called the SystemIndentication Code (“SID”) programmed.

When a cell phone is first powered up, it “listens” for an SID on thecontrol channel. The phone and base station uses the control channel, apredetermined special frequency, to talk to one another about thingslike call set-up and channel changing. If the phone cannot find anycontrol channel to listen to, then it knows that it is out of range anddisplays a “No Service” indicator or “Out of Range” message. When thephone receives the SID, it compares it to the SID programmed into thephone. If authentication is successful, then the phone is communicatingwith its home system. The phone transmits a registration request alongwith the SID, which is received by one or more towers within range whilethe MTSO keeps track of your phone's location in a database. Forexample, in FIG. 1, if the handset is in position P₂, only one tower(12) may receive the registration request. If the handset is in positionP₄, however, when it is powered ON initially, it may be within theoverlap of multiple cells, and the registration request may be receivedby multiple towers (12, 13), or may be directed to the tower for whichthe strongest signal strength is detected.

This allows the MTSO to know which cell grid the user is currently in soit knows when to ring the phone. When the MTSO receives a call, itsearches the database to see which cell the user is in. The MTSO selectsa frequency pair that the phone will use in the cell grid to take thecall. By using the control channel, the MTSO communicates with the phoneto inform which frequencies to use. Once the user's phone switches onthose frequencies, the call will be connected.

Many wireless networked systems are designed to handle providingcontinuous service as a unit travels from one cell to another, whileother technologies do not provide this functionality. For example, a PCStelephone is expected to be used in a moving vehicle or while walking,and as such, the PCS system specifications and design include protocolsand schemes for “hand off” of service to a handset from one cell towerto another. So, for example, as a handset moves from position P₃ toposition P₄, and then to position P₅, the handset may initially beserved by a first tower (12), and then be handed off to another tower(13) according to signal strength criteria and channel availability ineach area of coverage (14, 15).

The cellular base station constantly notes a user's signal strength isdiminishing as the user moves toward the edge of the base cell grid. Atthe same time, the base station in the cell the user is moving toward isaware of the increasing phone signal strength by listening and measuringsignal strength on all frequencies. Then, the two base stationscoordinates with each other through the MTSO, and at some point, yourphone gets a signal via control channel to change frequencies. This handoff switches the user's phone to the new cell. If the SID on the controlchannel does not match the SID programmed on the mobile device, then thephone knows that it is roaming. The local MTSO of the cell where theuser is roaming will contact the MTSO of the home system to verify itsdatabase that the phone's SID is valid. Once verification occurs, thelocal MTSO will track roaming usage as the phone moves through its cell.

Turning to FIG. 2, a larger portion of a cellular network (24) isillustrated, to show how a terminal or handset may traverse multiplepositions P₁, P₂, P₃, P₄, P₅, P₆, P₇, and P₈, starting outside anetwork, entering the fringe of the network, passing through and beingserved by multiple cells (20, 21), and finally passing through thefringe and out of the network. Certain cells (23, 22) may never provideservice to the handset based upon its position and proximity to other,closer towers.

Turning to FIG. 3, a generalized architecture (40) of these types ofhardware platforms is depicted. Although each actual device available onthe market may vary in detail from this depiction, the generalfunctionality and capabilities of each platform fit within the generalview of this figure. Each system typically includes all or some of thefollowing functions:

-   (41) a microprocessor, microcontroller, or control logic for    implementing the logical processes of the unit;-   (42) one or more application specific integrated circuits (“ASIC”)    for voice compression, decompression, protocols, error    checking/correction, security, encryption/decryption, and radio    signal modulation/demodulation;-   (43) an audio microphone and speaker or earphone for audible    interfacing with the user;-   (44) a radio frequency (“RF”) frontend including intermediate    frequency stages, and an antenna (45) for receiving and transmitting    RF signals (401) from and to a tower, base station, or wireless    access point (404);-   (46) one or more memory devices and types including some or all of    Random Access Memory, FLASH Read Only Memory, battery-backed memory,    and Read Only Memory, with one or more memory expansion slots (47)    in some cases;-   (48) a display such as a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), color TFT,    or cathode ray tube (“CRT”) display, often coupled with a touch    screen sensor for receiving user input and selections, typically    provided with a keypad or keyboard or other special buttons for    receiving user input and selections;-   (49) often several external I/O connectors for battery chargers,    external speakers and microphones, expansion keyboards and displays;-   (400) often additional data interfaces such as IrDA or PCMCIA slots    for receiving add-on hardware, interfaces, program packs, or    software; and-   (403) a clock, timer and/or calendar for keeping time in units such    as seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years.

More advanced wireless network devices may include a location technologyin detail such as a GPS receiver or E911 capability (402).

As mentioned before, carriers offer a wide range of cellular rate plansto users. Most services providers offer three different levels ofcoverage such as local, regional and national, generally illustrated inFIG. 4. Local coverage (451) usually limits service area to a particularmetropolitan area. The plan typically provides more minutes per monththan other coverage plans for local call, and calls in extended (453)areas may be higher. Calls originated from a roaming (452) area mayincur charges from other carriers, as well. Other regions (450) may nothave coverage at all.

Some carriers now offer unlimited local airtime to lure customers. Manyrecoup their costs by charging more per minute for roaming and bytacking on a per-minute airtime charge for calls made outside the localarea.

Regional coverage enlarges the service area to include the entire stateas well as selected surrounding ones. For example, local coverage in asoutheastern U.S. plan might include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, SouthCarolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Calls within and between any of thesestates don't have any associated roaming and long distance charges.These plans cost more and also give you fewer airtime minutes per monththan similarly priced local plans. In addition, if one uses more minutesthan provided within the plan, a surcharge will apply for extra usage.

National coverage (453) is often a flat-rate national plan, that isavailable anywhere in the United States where the carrier offers servicewith no roaming or long distance charges. Most carriers reach close to95 percent of the United States with a combination of analog and digitalservice. National plans offer even less airtime per month than regionalplans and are usually the most expensive option.

The very popular service plan most consumers use today is the fixedmonthly rate pricing that buys a certain number of airtime minutes forboth peak and off-peak hours and other extra features for add-on such astext messaging, call waiting and Internet browsing. After a customerpasses a credit check, carriers usually recommend signing a contract fora certain period of time from eleven months to three years. The carrier,in return, offers free or steeply discounted phones, accessories andeven pricing plans for the duration. Like any other contract with itsprovisions, should the user decide to cancel before the term of thecontract, a steep penalty charge is incurred.

Turning to FIG. 5, a typical monthly rate plan is shown in table form.The rate table (50) includes a number of “types” of services, such asminutes of voice usage in the local calling area, in the rows (51). Thepricing or allowed consumption varies based on several characteristicssuch as the coverage area (51), type of service (52), number of minutesincluded based on minute types such as daytime (53), nighttime (54),weekend (55) or anytime (56). So, for each entry in the table, a carriermay define a maximum number of minutes included in the rate plan, andmay define a surcharge for each minute of that type of service over theprepaid amount in a period of time such as a month.

For example, at $39.99 a month, hypothetically call “MetroTalker”,consumer can have the standard local voice 3000 minutes which consistsof 500 daytime minutes (LV-Day) from 7 AM to 7 PM on weekdays, 2000nights (LV-Night) after 7 PM on weekdays, 500 weekends (LV-Weekend) andzero anytime (LV-Anytime) minutes. For any additional minutes use,depending on time period, a surcharge is incurred on a per minute basis.For example, day overage charge may be 14 cents per minute, and night orweekend overcharge may be 8 cents per minute. So, the entries in thetable (50) for this rate plan “MetroTalker” would be:

-   -   LV-Day=(500, 14)    -   LV-Night=(2000, 8)    -   LV-Weekend=(500, 8)    -   LV-Anytime=(0, 0)

Similarly, extended area and roaming minute maximums and overcharges canbe defined for voice services, as well as defined for other types ofcalls (e.g. data, pictures, text messaging, web browsing).

It is important to note, however, that these rate plans take intoaccount the time of day and week of the service usage (e.g. night vs.day, weekend vs. weekday), the type of usage (e.g. voice, data,browsing, etc.), and the service region or area from which the calloriginates, wherein each region or area contains multiple cells (e.g.multiple towers).

Turning to FIG. 6, a generalization of the present-day billingreconciliation process (60) is shown. The mobile device (61) makes acall through a tower (62), and its service usage data is recorded by abase station (63). The base station (63), also captures the time and dayof the usage (64). The base station is not aware of specific rate plansthe mobile device is assigned because it can be a MTSO of anothercarrier.

Usage records (65, 65′) are transferred to a billing server (66) foraccounting processing. The billing server consolidates the usagerecords, verifies them against rate plans (68) and gathers customerprofile information (67) to generate customer monthly invoice (69). Thebilling plan is either time-based or rate plan based.

It is important to note, again, that the invoice to the customercontains calculations and charges based upon the minutes of service usedduring a billing cycle, when those minutes were used (e.g. time, day ofweek), and the region from which the service originated or was consumed(e.g. home, extended, roaming, etc.). There is no calculation of thecharges due to the customer based upon any other factors typically.

As such, cellular phone carriers offer fixed rate plans which do nottake into account the geographically based costs associated withcellular services within regions of service. Geographic costs associatedwith cellular telephone usage include the cost of land lease, towers,switches, and other associated processing equipment, the human costs ofcellular company employees, and the costs associated with servicelevels.

For example, consider a local region that has 67 towers or 67 cells init. Each of those towers has its own set of costs: cost of leasing theland on which the tower is placed, cost of operating and maintaining theequipment in the tower and base station, etc. Some towers are owned bythe service provider, while others are leased from other owners.

For instance, in a low usage cell, underutilized equipment is a cost,and inversely, in an overly busy area, excessive usage may drive theneed for additional bandwidth. Similarly, newer towers may be morecostly than older, depreciated towers. But, the fees collected from theusers for using these different towers or cells within a rate region arethe same. For example, let's assume a prepaid cellular plan provides fordebiting a user's account balance at the rate of 9 cents per minute forcalls made from home region. Also assume, again, that there are 67towers in the home region. Further assume that cell #19 is the newestcell, and has a cost of operation of 15 cents per minute, and that cell#45 is the oldest cell and has a cost of operation of 2 cents perminute.

If the user makes a call from cell #19, the revenue from the call is 9cents per minute, even though the cost to operate the cell is 15 centsper minute. So, calls handled by this cell under this rate plan actuallylose 6 cents per minute. However, calls originating from cell #45produce a positive revenue of 7 cents per minute.

To be profitable, the sum total of all of the cellular operational costsin a calling region must not exceed the sum total of the revenue fromservice consumed by all users on all rate plans within that region.

Often times, though, the newer and more expensive to operate cells arealso the most heavily used. Consider a growing metropolitan area inwhich a downtown area is experiencing a business boom. This means thatmore towers will be needed in the downtown area. But, these new towersfall within the existing “local” region of rate plans, and as such, therevenue from their usage will be the same as that from the existingtowers in the local region. Thus, to meet increasing demand and traffic,carriers are often forced to install new equipment, which often resultsin a negative revenue generation.

Carriers currently have no means for redirecting calls and services froma higher cost cell to a lower cost cell, especially for cells within thesame rate region. Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a methodwhich utilizes service consumption to modify consumer behaviorencouraged by geographical-based pricing advantages related to cellularoperational characteristics within a rate plan region.

It would be difficult to publish a map of cells within regions to users,especially considering the overlap of coverage between adjacent cells.Radio range coverage not only varies based upon geographical conditions(e.g. hill sides, buildings, etc.), but also upon varying weatherconditions.

Additionally, rate plans are already complicated and many consumerscomplain about their inability to understand the pricing schemes alreadyemployed. Publishing a rate plan which breaks the fees into cells withinregions would further exasperate this problem.

Further, publishing rate plans and brochures is costly, and therefore isonly performed periodically by cell phone companies. However, changes tousage and costs of individual cells is relatively dynamic. It would notbe practical, however, to publish a new rate plan brochure or guidedaily or weekly in order to update costs of usage by cell.

In some jurisdictions, rate plans must be approved by a regulatory bodyor agency, which can be costly, timely and laborious to update. For thisreason as well, dynamically changing a rate plan is not desirable.

Therefore, there additionally exists a need in the art for a new systemand method for adapting service usage among multiple cells within a rateplan region without requiring new rate plans to be published,documented, authorized, approved, comprehended or adopted.

The invention described in the related patent application, which isincorporated herein, allows wireless service providers to selectivelyenhance the utilization of cell towers through consumer behaviormodification based on dynamically generated market incentives. Thisinvention allows wireless service providers to use dynamic pricing anddiscounts correlated to specific cells in which the consumer wishes touse service as a mechanism, in a more effective manner, to affectindividual cell tower usage.

According to one aspect of the present invention, pricing models becomemore dynamic in response to with real-time usage data. Rather than usingthe traditional area coverage rate plan, or in addition to a traditionalarea-based plan, a graduated stand-alone or graduated comparativepricing model is introduced by the invention, in which the users areshown in real-time dynamically generated pricing and cost incentives todelay usage in high-traffic or high-cost-of-operation cells, and toencourage usage in low-traffic or low-cost-of-operation cells.

Consumers may learn patterns of discounts and market incentives, andwill adjust their behavior accordingly, thereby affecting desirabletraffic load changes among cells within a rate plan region without theneed for publishing complicated maps, committing to contractualdiscounts, and educating the users with respect to technologycomplications and details.

It is also desirable, in view of the discount and incentives provided bythe related invention, to allow a user to establish a set of preferencesunder which certain activities on the mobile device could be completedwhile in the higher cost cell, but for which the actual networkservicing of the operation would be delayed until the mobile devicereaches a lower cost cell where the incentives are being offered to theconsumer. By delaying service completion but allowing the user toperform certain actions in the higher cost cell, the user is able toqueue certain services to occur while he or she is mindful of it, butthe completion of which will be made in a lower cost cell, therebyproviding maximum convenience and cost advantage to the user.

Therefore, there also exists a need in the art for a system and methodwhich allows a user to establish a set of service delaying preferences,to provide certain preliminary actions by the user to initiate a delayedservice, and then to automatically complete that service when the mobileunit has reached a lower cost cell or under other circumstances definedby the user's preferences.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description when taken in conjunction with thefigures presented herein present a complete description of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 depicts the architecture of the cellular telephone systemincluding multiple small cells.

FIG. 2 illustrates a larger portion of a cellular network and how aterminal or handset may traverse multiple positions.

FIG. 3 shows a generalized architecture of cellular telephones and otherwirelessly networked devices.

FIG. 4 describes the typical three different regions of coverage.

FIG. 5 shows a typical monthly rate plan pricing table.

FIG. 6 illustrates the present-day billing reconciliation process.

FIG. 7 depicts in more detail a number of service regions, each of whichcontain multiple cells, in which each cell generates the same revenue asthe other cells within the same region.

FIG. 8 illustrates a portion of the logical process of the presentinvention involving collecting real-time usage statistics.

FIG. 9 shows user consumption behavior modified by service incentivesaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows usage shaping rate rules according to one aspect of thepresent invention, the Graduated/Stand-alone Discount Profile.

FIG. 11 depicts our Graduated/Stand-alone Discount Profile in graphicalformat.

FIG. 12 illustrates another aspect of the present invention,Graduated/Comparative Discount Profile.

FIG. 13 illustrates a portion of the logic of the present inventionaccording to the Graduated/Comparative Discount Profile aspect.

FIG. 14 depicts several optional embodiments of a geo-cost notificationsicon for display on a cellular telephone, PDA, or other mobile device'suser interface.

FIG. 15 shows the logical processes of the present invention whichdefers service completion based upon geographical-based pricingadvantages and user preferences.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In conjunction with the discount and incentives provided by the relatedinvention, user's of mobile devices are allowed to establish a set ofpreferences under which certain activities on their mobile device can becompleted while in a higher cost cell, but for which the actual networkservicing of the operation is delayed until the mobile device reaches alower cost cell where the incentives are being offered to the consumer.

By delaying service completion but allowing the user to perform certainactions in the higher cost cell, the user is able to queue certainservices to occur while he or she is mindful of it, but the completionof which will be made in a lower cost cell, thereby providing maximumconvenience and cost advantage to the user.

For example, when a user initiates editing of a text message on his orher cell phone, the cell phone may determine (or query the user) thatthe message is of a class “personal”. According to a set of userpreferences, personal messages are preferred to be delivered only indiscounted cells. So, if the cell where the phone is currently locatedis offering a discount, the message would be sent immediately. But, ifthe phone is currently located in a full-price cell, the message wouldbe stored by the phone, and transmission would be delayed until thephone is notified that it has reached a discounted cell.

According to one aspect of the invention, the user may designate aplurality of classes of services and actions, such as “personal”,“business”, “family”, etc. Ordinary actions, such as text messaging,voice calls, web browsing, etc., can be determined to exist in one ofthe user's defined classes based upon address book entries, queries ofthe user, etc.

According to another aspect of the present invention, additionalconditions may be defined by the user under which completion of queuedservices would be done besides reaching a discounted cell, such as upona maximum delay time per action, reaching a certain time of day,receiving a power-off request by the user, low signal strength, or lowbattery power, etc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is preferably realized as circuitry or firmwarestored in a wireless network device's memory (46) and executable by thedevice's controller (41), cooperating with logical processes provided bya server system operated by a wireless network service provider. Theportion of the invention realized as executable by the wireless networkdevice may be preprogrammed into the device, or it may be downloadedfrom a memory card, the wireless network or another data network orinterface, as the capabilities of the device allow and within thebusiness model of the service provider.

Throughout this disclosure, we will refer specifically to and provideexamples of embodiments with respect to cellular telephone services. Thepresent invention, however, is not limited to these embodiments, but mayequally well be realized in conjunction with any wireless networkservices and systems wherein the service geography is served by aplurality of radio access points, such as wireless LAN access points,BlueTooth, etc. As such, when we refer to a cell phone or mobile device,we are referring in general to any such wirelessly networked device suchas a PDA, cell phone, laptop computer, pager, etc. Additionally, when werefer to a “tower”, we are referring to any wireless network accesspoint, such as a LAN wireless access point, a BlueTooth transceiver, anda cellular telephone tower (analog or digital).

Additionally, the present invention is preferably realized inconjunction with the invention set forth in the related patentapplication, the disclosure of which is contained herein and which hasbeen incorporated by reference. It will be recognized by those skilledin the art, however, that the present invention may be realized inalternative embodiments in conjunction with other network services andsystems without departing from the scope of the invention.

Currently, network load smoothing is done using pricing based upon timeof day embodied in a region-based rate plan. This entails offering userslower service pricing for weekends and after 7 PM where demands for cellphone usage is less, for example. Rate plans also offer pricingincentives for using the services within certain rate plan regions (e.g.home or local), and pricing premiums for using service in other regions(e.g. roaming).

These rate plan schemes provide no ability, however, for the providersto adjust pricing on a cell-by-cell basis within a rate plan region. Assuch, new towers, access points, etc., installed within a rate planregion generate the same review as existing towers within that region.Due to differences in cost of operating each tower, and/or due toloading variations among the towers within a rate plan region, sometowers may actually generate negative revenue.

The present invention enables cell phone network providers to usepricing as a mechanism to enhance usage of specific cell phone towerswithin each rate plan region to provide further balancing of trafficamong towers within a region, and to allow enhanced return-on-investment(“ROI”) on underutilized towers.

Our invention extends upon the region-based rate plans to further allowdynamic variation in service pricing based upon the current utilizationof cell towers. Rather than using the traditional area coverage rateplan, or in addition to a traditional area-based plan, a pricing policyis provided by the invention in which the users are shown, real-time,dynamically generated pricing and cost incentives to delay usage inhigh-traffic or high-cost-of-operation cells, and to encourage usage inlow-traffic or low-cost-of-operation cells. Through usage of theinvention over time, consumers may learn patterns of discounts andmarket incentives, and they will adjust their behavior accordingly,thereby affecting desirable traffic load changes among cells within arate plan region without the need for publishing complicated maps,committing to contractual discounts, and educating the users withrespect to technology complications and details. This allows cell phonecarriers to make its services more attractive for users to defer usingcell phones until a cell tower utilization is low, therefore loweringcost.

Turning to FIG. 7, each rate plan region, such as a home or local region(451), contains a plurality of cells (71, 72, 73, 74) Each of the celltowers (71, 72, 73, 74) within the rate plan region have its variedutilization usage depending upon present and historical user traffic.This is also true in other rate: plan regions, such as roaming regions(452) and extended or national regions (453). It will be recognized bythose skilled in the art that the pictorial of FIG. 7 is simplified forillustrative purposes, and in practice, each rate plan region comprisesof multiple cell towers. It will also be recognized by those skilled inthe art that there may be more than one of each type of rate planregion, and that other names or descriptions for rate plan regions maybe adopted.

Now let's consider actual traffic or usage of tower's or cells within aregion to illustrate the problem to which the invention is directed. Forexample, a particular cell phone tower that services users working inthe vicinity of Times Square, New York City, is much more highlyutilized than a cell tower covering a suburb at certain times, such asduring the commuting hours to and from work (e.g. 7:00 am–9:00 am and4:00 pm–7:00 pm). In fact, cell phone usage typically dramaticallyincreases around the end of the work day period in downtown and urbanareas, but then traffic on these same towers is relatively light duringthe weekends and evenings. At other times, though, certain cell towersin the suburban areas will be more heavily loaded than the downtowntowers, such as during weekends or holidays when users are congregatedcloser to their homes.

Some wireless services consumed are “real time” services, such as thecompletion and connection of two-way voice calls. Some services,however, are one-way, such as the authoring of a Short Message Service(“SMS”) text message or leaving of a voice message recording for acertain party. Traditionally, these one-way services are also conducted“real time” (e.g. the message is delivered at the same time the usercreates it), even during the busiest periods of use of a particular celltower.

All of these towers, downtown and suburban, though are located withinthe same rate plan region according to the typical rate plans offered byservice providers today. So, usage of a cell phone during a commute whena tower is heavily loaded generates the same amount of revenue as usageof a cell phone in that same cell when tower traffic is lower, using theregion rate plan scheme known in the art.

Consider a specific user, who we will call “user A”, wireless serviceusage habits and patterns. When User A ends the work day, an SMS messageis authored and transmitted to User B to confirm a dinner plan, forexample. This message would be sent soon after leaving the workplace,perhaps on the sidewalk near Times Square while walking to the closestsubway station. Alternatively, the user may leave a voicemail for UserB, which according to the current technology would be transmitted overthe telephone network immediately and stored at User B's voicemail boxserver.

Under the current pricing model, the message sent by User A (or minutesused to record and send a voicemail) will be charged based on the typeof monthly plan purchased according to the “local” region rate. Thetower serving this cell, though, is experiencing a very high load oftraffic, as many other users are doing the same type of thing at thesame time (e.g. they are all leaving work and making a personal call,sending a message, etc.). There is little or no incentive for each userto delay sending an SMS message at this time, say 5:15 p.m., becausetheir “nighttime” minutes don't start until 7:00 p.m., or even 9:00p.m., which would be too late for organizing dinner plans, for example.

Each tower tracks and maintains its traffic level which varies bycomponents such as number of users servicing, number of calls orservices consumed (e.g. calls, sessions, messages, etc.), and length ofconsumption (if relevant). According to one aspect of the presentinvention, these statistics and data are utilized as shown in FIG. 8 bycollecting real-time usage information from the base stations. Each basestation (71, 72, 79) provides real-time traffic and loading statistics(80) to a traffic shaping server (81). The traffic shaping server (81)receives this information in near real-time mode, and the trafficshaping server (81) has access to a set of behavior shaping rules (83),and optionally the user rate plans (68) and customer profiles (67).

Our shaping rules (83) of the related invention comprise discountpolicies that define market discounts to be offered to users in order tomodify consumption behaviors and direct usage to underutilized or morecost-effective cells within the same rate plan region.

Additionally, using historical data (82) regarding each cell tower'shistorical usage, the potential utilization of each cell tower at aspecific time period can be determined.

With this information, the shaping server (81) can determine when aservice is being initiated by a user in a certain cell if that cell iscurrently highly utilized or loaded, and if so, if there is a nearby oradjacent cell which is relatively lowly utilized or historicallyunderutilized. If so, the user can be provided a signal or indicationthat a discount would be available for using the service or making thecall from an alternate cell, in order to encourage the user to delayservice consumption, thereby alleviating the busy cell of the additionaltraffic. The process of signaling the user is described in more detailin the following paragraphs.

For example, at 5:00 p.m. on a weekday, the carrier can send anotification to User A that the current cell where the user is locatedis a full price cell. Later, when User A arrives in a lower cost cell(e.g. lower utilized cell), the carrier can send a notification to UserA that a discount applies to making calls or using other services whilein this cell. It is important to note that the two cells described hereare both within the same rate plan region, and would not have beenpriced differently under the standard region-based rate plan of theprior art.

So, after this set of experiences are had by the user, the user willlearn that by using the present invention, he or she may record a voicemessage or author a text message at any time (e.g. even when located ina full price cell), but the system can automatically delay thetransmission of his or her text or voice message according to his or herdiscount preferences, the user's costs can be managed and minimized. Thenetwork operator also realizes an benefit as this change in theirconsumers' behavior distributes the load of messages to cell towerswhich are less in demand. In this example, if the user is leaving theoffice headed for a 20 minute subway ride to his or her neighborhood,the user notices that when leaving the office building, the rates arefull price. But, when emerging from the train station in theneighborhood, there is a discount available. As such, the user willlearn to take advantage of the discounts by configuring his or herpreferences to delay the sending of non-urgent messages for a fewminutes until he or she is in the lower cost cell. The user may authoror record the message at any time, though, so that the user will notforget to create and send the message later, and so that the user'sconvenience is not negatively impacted.

Through this method, the related invention encourages user behaviorchanges without committing to a new rate plan, without publishing newrate plans, and can accommodate dynamic changes in the network loadingconditions. For example, if in the future the cell in the neighborhoodalso becomes historical busy during the 5:00–6:00 p.m. range, thediscount offer can be discontinued by simply not indicating a discountto the user.

The foregoing example is illustrated in a general sense in FIG. 9, whichcan be interpreted for any number of other sequences of actions of auser and the wireless network system. Rather than having User A authorand transmit a message near Times Square using the user's mobile device(61) at a certain time, a message transmitted in the Bronx may be givena discount after the user moves (94) to a more underutilized cell. Morespecifically, the mobile device (61) within the first cell (71)initiates a call (91) or other service request (e.g. text message, webbrowsing, etc.), which is intercepted by our traffic shaping server(81).

The traffic shaping server (81) conducts a check on all the real-timestatistics of the cell (71), and potentially of other cells within thesame rate plan region, and sends a geographical cost (“geo-cost”) valuenotification back to the mobile device (92). This notification can beany of several embodiments, including setting an icon on the mobiledevice's display, sending a text message to the mobile device, orproviding a data value to the mobile device which is then used by aprogram on the mobile device to notify the user (e.g. the mobile devicemay receive a data value and then may display it, annunciate it usingvoice or tones, etc.). User A, knowing that discounts may be availablein other cells, may decide to cancel the current call (93) or servicerequest, and to make the call at a later time after relocating (94) toanother cell (72). Likewise for text or voice messaging, the user maydecide to author or record the message immediately, but to allow themobile device to store the message for later delivery when located in acell where a discount is offered.

When the mobile device (61) reaches the new cell tower coverage (72), ifthe cell where the mobile device is currently located is anunderutilized or low-cost cell, the shaping server will determine thisusing the real-time traffic statistics, rate plans and shaping rules aspreviously described. Then, an updated geo-cost indicator is provided(95) to the mobile device which will alert the user to the fact that adiscount currently applies to calls or services consumed from this cell.So, for example, once our hypothetical User A arrives in his or herneighborhood, perhaps the Bronx, the geo-cost indicator on the phone beupdated to show a discount is in effect. This may result in the userdeciding to initiate and consume (96) a service for the case of atelephone call. In the case of a stored message, the message will beautomatically delivered, as described in the following paragraphs.

When this pattern is repeated a few times to the user, most users willlearn that discounts are usually available at certain times on certaindays in certain places (e.g. in certain cells). They will learn only theportions of the discount plan that apply to them, thereby minimizing the“learning curve” which would be otherwise required to understand acomplicated table of rates, times, and a map of cells within a rate planregion. Additionally, as traffic is redirected historically to cellswhich are underutilized, the discounts offered can be lessened or eveneliminated. Even when the discounts are eliminated, some consumers willcontinue their habit of placing calls in the lower cost cells.

By offering incentives to consumers in this manner, one embodiment of anincentive pricing model (1050) according to the invention can berealized in our shaping rules as shown in FIG. 10. Cell phone networkproviders can offer discounts based on percentage of tower utilizationin this model. For example, if a cell tower is more than 60% occupied ata certain time, then no discounts are available. However, if the towertraffic is between 20% and 60% utilized, then a 40% discount can beapplied to calls made from that cell at that time. These discounts canbe applied to the standard or “full” rates for that rate plan region andperiod of time. For example, if the user is within a 50% utilized cellin an extended rate plan region at night and is attempting to send atext message, the “full” rate of XM-Night is reduced by 50%. For cellswith even greater underutilization, such as less that 20% utilization inthis example, even greater discounts (e.g. −60%) can be offered. Thispricing strategy promotes usage awareness and encourages change in userconsumption behavior—the greater the discounts offered, the greater theincentive to change usage patterns, and the greater the return to theservice provider. Of course, our example here uses three tiers of celltower utilization, which could be expanded to any number of tiers (from2 to many). Likewise, different discount rates can be defined fordifferent types (52) of service even though we have shown for simplicitysimilar discount rates among different types of service.

The shaping rules described in the foregoing paragraphs and shown inFIG. 10 are our Graduated/Stand-Alone (“GSA”) pricing policy, which isshown graphically in FIG. 11. The amount of discount (1151) fromstandard or full rate is a stepwise function (1153) of the trafficloading (1152) of a particular cell at a given time and/or historically.

Turning to FIG. 12, an alternate set of shaping rules (1050′), which werefer to as a Graduated/Comparative (“GC”) discount policy, isillustrated in correlation to a standard region-based rate plan (50).Rather than providing discount thresholds which are a function solely ontraffic conditions within the cell where the mobile device is currentlylocated, the GC policy produces discounts as a function of relativetraffic conditions between the current cell where the user is locatedand adjacent cells (e.g. cells where the user is most likely to travelsoon). This is provided in this example policy by taking a ratio of anadjacent cell's utilization compared to the current cell's utilization,and then what percentage discount is due. For example, if the adjacentcell is less utilized (e.g. ratio is less than 1.0) up to 20% moreutilized than the current cell, no discount would be offered (e.g. theneighboring cell is similarly loaded). However, if the neighboring cellis particularly more loaded than the current cell (e.g. the ratio is1.2–1.6), then a discount, perhaps 40%, would be offered to encouragethe user to use a service now in the current cell (rather thanpotentially waiting and using the service when located in the higherutilized cell). Likewise, the adjacent cell is greatly much moreutilized than the current cell (e.g. ratio is greater than 1.6), andeven greater discount or incentive is offered to the user to encourageusing the service in the current cell.

FIG. 13 illustrates the logic of comparing utilization statistics (80′,80′″) of adjacent cells (71, 72) to a current cell (73) utilizationstatistics (80″) using ratio calculators (1161), the results of whichcan be considered by the shaping server (81).

As mentioned previously, discount notifications are sent to mobiledevices when it becomes available. These geo-cost notifications candisplay in various forms such as icons, text messages, or value.However, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that thepresent invention is not limited to the following display formats, butmay be alternatively realized.

For example, a text message reading as follows could be sent to themobile device when a discount is being offered in a particular cell:

-   -   “Cool!! Make a call now and save an extra 20%!    -   Thanks for Using MegaServe Wireless today!”

Alternatively, a geo-cost icon or indicator can be displayed on themobile device's user interface, such as those shown in FIG. 14. Forexample, to notify users the costs of each call, message, or other unitof consumption of service, a cost meter can be used to show gradualincreasing costs one bar (a) for highly discounted, to two bars (b) withsome discount, to full or standard rate (c).

Following a similar scheme, alternate iconic representations can bedollar signs of graduated size from greatest discount to standard rate(d, e, f respectively), a partially filled dollar sign (g, h, i), orstacks of coins (j, k, l).

Any of these icons can be filled with numerous colors to denote changesor value, such as using green for greatest discount and red for standardrate. Also, the use of any other graphic symbol which readily conveysthe meaning of cost or money can be used in place of the dollar symbols,especially for systems designed for use in cultures which use othermonetary symbols such as the British pound £, the European Union's Euro

, or the Japanese Yen ¥.

According to another embodiment of the related invention, a downloadedJAVA applet executed by the mobile device can receive a data value fromthe shaping server, and then can determine how to notify the user of thediscount opportunities using icons, images, and/or sounds.

Authorizing Messages Real-Time and Delaying Message Completion Accordingto Cost Incentives and Preferences

Turning now to FIG. 15, our method (2000) of the present invention isshown which allows realtime or immediate authoring or recording ofmessages, and automatically defers or delays service completion (e.g.message transmission) based upon geographical-based pricing advantagesand user preferences. Services which are one-way in nature, such asauthoring and sending a text message, capturing and sending a picture orvideo, or recording and delivering a voice message, are handleddifferently from the technology currently available in that they are notcreated and completed at the same time. In other words, the creation ofthe information to be delivered and delivery of that information areseparated in time as such:

-   (a) user creates information to be sent (e.g. authors a text    message, captures a picture or video, records a voice message) at    any time, and immediately to the user's need to create a message,    regardless of the current pricing of the cell where the mobile    device is located;-   (b) if user's cost incentive preferences are not currently met in    the current cell, the information (e.g. voice recording, text    message, etc.) is stored in the user's mobile device and is not    delivered or transmitted, thereby avoiding any network usage at the    current cost or pricing level;-   (c) a delay period is incurred according to the user's preferences    by the invention embodied in the mobile device; and-   (d) upon completion of the delay period (or upon the meeting of an    alternate preference setting), the stored information is delivered    (e.g. the text message is transmitted, the picture or video is    transmitted, the recorded voice message is delivered to the    addressee's voicemail box, etc.).

Normally, step (d) above is completed in a cell which is offering a costincentive, which allows the user to obtain savings for certain types ofservice, and defers the network traffic caused by those delayed servicesto another cell tower which is not as busy, less expensive to operate,etc. Alternate preferences for completing a deferred service can bedefined as well, such as completing all deferred messages when a batteryis detected as low, or when the power to the mobile device is beingturned off by the user, as will be described in more detail in thefollowing paragraphs.

Using our hypothetical User A who authors a text message (or records avoice message, etc.) addressed to User B, a wireless service isinitiated (2001). The mobile device (e.g. cell phone, PDA, etc.)determines (2002) if the initiated service is a type for which servicecompletely can be delayed (e.g. a text message, voice message, webconnection, etc.). If it is not of a type which can be delayed, then thehandling of the service proceeds normally (2003). Optionally, the useris provided a control or prompt which allows the user to override anydelays of service completion, which provides an ability to selectivelycomplete service normally (2003) under user control, e.g. a text messageis sent immediately to User B while charges are recorded based on UserA's regular pricing plan.

Otherwise, if (2003) the service can be delayed, then the systemperforms (2004) a check of the user's geo-cost delay policy (2005). Anuser's geo-cost delay policy is preferably a file or data structurestored in the mobile device, but may optionally be a data structure orquery available to the mobile device from a network server. It comprisesa set of rules and policies that dictate when services can be completedaccording to a classification of the attempted service and the currentpricing incentives being offered in the cell where the mobile device iscurrently located.

For example, Table 1 shows an example Geo-Cost Delay Policy.

TABLE 1 Example User Geo-Cost Delay Policy In (plan-area=home), for:text_messages: queue if rate not discounted; auto-transmit if ratediscounted or queued 1 hour or battery is low or if power-off button;receive always; voice_messaging: auto-dial business always; queuepersonal if rate not discounted; auto-dial personal if rate isdiscounted or time is after 10:00 pm or if battery is low or if day isweekend; receive all always web_browser: auto-connect business andinvestment always; queue personal if rate not discounted; auto-connectpersonal if rate discounted; In (plan-area=roam), for: text_messages:queue if rate not discounted; auto-transmit if rate discounted or queued1 hour or battery is low or if power-off button; receive if ratediscount; voice_calls: auto-dial business after prompt; queue personalif rate not discounted; auto-dial personal after prompt; receive allafter prompt; web_browser: auto-connect after prompt;

This example geo-cost policy defines two sets of rules or preferences, afirst set for services made from the “home” rate plan region, and asecond set for services attempted from a “roaming” rate plan region.Additionally, it defines three classes of services (a) business, (b)personal, and (c) investment. These same classes are preferably storedin an address book in association with each entry (e.g. denoting eachtelephone number, pager number, buddy name, web address, etc., aspersonal, business or investment). Optionally, the user may be promptedto select a class of service upon initiation of the service, especiallywhen located in a full-rate cell.

According to this example set of rules, when the user is located in ahome region, text messages will be queued if rate not currentlydiscounted from standard “home” rate, and the stored and queued messageswill be automatically transmitted from the mobile device through thenetwork when the mobile device is relocated to a cell where the rate isdiscounted. Additionally, the messages stored by the mobile device maybe automatically transmitted after they have been delayed for 1 hour, orwhen the mobile device's battery is low or when the user presses thepower-off button. Text messages of all classes are handled the same way,according to this set of rules.

Voice calls initiated from a home region are handled differentlydepending on the availability of discounts, and the class of theservice. For example, business calls will always be connected andcompleted without delay, but personal calls are queued if the rate isnot discounted (e.g. a voice message is recorded into the mobiledevice's memory and stored for later delivery to the intendedrecipient). When queued, the telephone number and voice recording isstored in memory, and then automatically dialed (e.g. auto-connected)and delivered (e.g. played), or transmitted to the recipient's voicemailbox, when the mobile device reaches a cell where a discount is offered.As in this example, if the current time is after 10:00 p.m., the batteryis low, or when the day is a weekend day, the recorded voice messagewould automatically be delivered. Additionally, inbound calls are alwaysreceived, regardless of service class.

Similarly, web browsing attempts (e.g. attempt to connect or view a webpage) while in a home region are allowed without delay for business andinvestment web sites and addresses, but are queued for personal websites and pages if the mobile device is not currently located in a cellwhere a discount is being offered. Personal web sites are auto-connected(e.g. automatically downloaded or refreshed in memory) when the mobiledevice reaches a discounted cell, without exception to battery power,time, etc., according to this example.

Likewise, similar rules are established for services initiated from a“roam” rate plan region, except that most of the rules provide forprompting of the user to either complete immediately or queue theservice.

By providing such a user-configurable set of rules, this provides theuser with the option to have messages and other services deferred untilbeing automatically completed when his or her preferences are met. Thisallows users to take advantage of the pricing discounts based on towertraffic, but does not require the user to remember to repeat the serviceinitiation when the lower cost cell is reached (e.g. avoids the userforgetting to send that message later when a discount is offered).

Once the system conducts the geo-cost delay policy (2005) checks (2004),it preferably prompts (2006) the user to decide whether or not to queue(2007) the service completion after waiting (2008) to reach a discountedcell, or until another logical condition is met (e.g. power-off, batterylow, etc.). If the user wants the message to be sent instantly, thenservice will be initiated and completed normally (2003), according tothe preferred embodiment. If the service completion is queued and afterthe conditions set forth in the delay policy are met, the service isautomatically initiated (2009) using the stored telephone number,address, etc.

According to other aspects of the present invention, the user mayestablish his or her geo-cost delay policy by using the user interfaceof the mobile device to directly edit and configure his or herpreferences, or he or she may be provided with a web page or portalwhich allows the user to edit the policy which would then be downloadedto the mobile device.

In another optional embodiment, the policy is not stored by the mobiledevice, but is stored by a network server, and is made available to themobile device through a specific query action.

As mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, the user is preferably allowedto define his or her own classes of services, such as business,personal, investment, news, sports, family, weather, etc., without limitas to number of classes. In an alternative embodiment, the user may beprovided with or limited to pre-determined classes, and may be providedwith a pre-configured policy which the user may or may not be allowed tochange.

CONCLUSION

The present invention has been described in general terms and by use ofillustrative embodiment examples. It is within the skill of those in theart to make certain alterations modifications, such as programminglanguage, computing platforms, implementation methodology, in order torealize an alternative embodiment of the invention for use with analternative system. Therefore, the scope of the present invention shouldbe determined by the following claims.

1. A system for shaping of traffic and utilization patterns among aplurality of cells within a rate plan region, said rate plan defining atleast one standard charge rate of service consumption for servicesconsumed within a rate plan region, said system comprising: a discountindicator disposed in a mobile communications device, said indicatorbeing set by a wireless service provider for a given cell in which saidmobile device is presently located, said indicator indicating a discountvalue available for consuming wireless service from said given cell inorder to encourage said service consumption; a geo-cost policyassociated with said mobile device, said policy defining a set of rulesand conditions according to said discount value and according to one ormore classes of service under which service initiation is to be delayedand queued, and according to discount values offered in each cell ofsaid rate plan region; a service completer which queues services byreceiving information from a user of said mobile device, storing saidinformation in said mobile device without use of network communications,and which automatically completes queued services upon presentconditions meeting said geo-cost policy rules by delivering said storedinformation using network communications thereby delaying the use ofnetwork communications until geo-cost policy conditions are met.
 2. Thesystem as set forth in claim 1 wherein said service completer isconfigured to queue and automatically complete a wireless serviceselected from the group of sending a text message, receiving a textmessage, sending a voice message, receiving a voice message, sendingpicture, and receiving a picture.
 3. The system as set forth in claim 1wherein said service completer is configured to queue and automaticallydial telephone numbers.
 4. The system as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid service completer is configured to queue and automatically completea wireless service selected from the group of automatically connectingto a web address, automatically downloading a data structure, andrefreshing a stored web page from a source web page.
 5. The system asset forth in claim 1 wherein said discount indicator comprises aselection from the group of a user icon, a text message, and acomputer-readable data value.
 6. The system as set forth in claim 1wherein said geo-cost policy comprises service classes based upon aselection from the group of telephone number, buddy name, web address,and keyword.
 7. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said servicecompleter is configured to automatically complete a queued serviceaccording to one or more geo-cost conditions selected from the group ofcurrently offered discount value for a given cell, a mobile devicebattery low indicator, a mobile device power-off request, a clock time,a calendar day, and a mobile device low wireless signal strengthindicator.
 8. The system as set forth in claim 1 further comprising ageo-cost policy editor configured to edit said geo-cost policy.
 9. Amethod for shaping of traffic and utilization patterns among a pluralityof cells within a rate plan region, said rate plan defining at least onestandard charge rate of service consumption for services consumed withina rate plan region, said system comprising: disposing a discountindicator in a mobile communications device, said indicator being set bya wireless service provider for a given cell in which said mobile deviceis presently located, said indicator indicating a discount valueavailable for consuming wireless service from said given cell in orderto encourage said service consumption; accessing a geo-cost policyassociated with said mobile device, said policy defining a set of rulesand conditions according to said discount value and according to one ormore classes of service under which service initiation is to be delayedand queued, and according to discount values offered in each cell ofsaid rate plan region; queuing mobile services by receiving informationfrom a user of said mobile device, and storing said information in saidmobile device without use of network communications; and automaticallycompleting queued services upon present conditions meeting said geo-costpolicy rules by delivering said stored information using networkcommunications thereby delaying the use of network communications untilgeo-cost policy conditions are met.
 10. The method as set forth in claim9 wherein said steps of queuing and completing a mobile servicecomprises queuing and automatically completing a wireless serviceselected from the group of sending a text message, receiving a textmessage, sending a voice message, receiving a voice message, sendingpicture, and receiving a picture.
 11. The method as set forth in claim 9wherein said steps of queuing and completing a mobile service comprisesautomatically dialing a telephone number.
 12. The method as set forth inclaim 9 wherein said steps of queuing and completing a mobile servicecomprises queuing and automatically completing a wireless serviceselected from the group of automatically connecting to a web address,automatically downloading a data structure, and refreshing a stored webpage from a source web page.
 13. The method as set forth in claim 9wherein said step of disposing a discount indicator comprises disposingan indicator selected from the group of a user icon, a text message, anda computer-readable data value.
 14. The method as set forth in claim 9wherein said step of accessing a geo-cost policy comprises evaluatingservice classes based upon a selection from the group of telephonenumber, buddy name, web address, and keyword.
 15. The method as setforth in claim 9 wherein said steps of queuing and completing a mobileservice comprises automatically completing a queued service according toone or more geo-cost conditions selected from the group of currentlyoffered discount value for a given cell, a mobile device battery lowindicator, a mobile device power-off request, a clock time, a calendarday, and a mobile device low wireless signal strength indicator.
 16. Themethod as set forth in claim 9 further comprising providing a geo-costpolicy editor configured to edit said geo-cost policy.
 17. A computerreadable medium encoded with software for shaping of traffic andutilization patterns among a plurality of cells within a rate planregion, said rate plan defining at least one standard charge rate ofservice consumption for services consumed within a rate plan region,said software being executed by a mobile communications device andperforming the steps of: providing to a user of said mobilecommunications device a discount indicator, said indicator being set bya wireless service provider for a given cell in which said mobile deviceis presently located, said indicator indicating a discount valueavailable for consuming wireless service from said given cell in orderto encourage said service consumption; accessing a geo-cost policyassociated with said mobile device, said policy defining a set of rulesand conditions according to said discount value and according to one ormore classes of service under which service initiation is to be delayedand queued, and according to discount values offered in each cell ofsaid rate plan region; queuing mobile services by receiving informationfrom a user of said mobile device, and storing said information in saidmobile device without use of network communications; and automaticallycompleting queued services upon present conditions meeting said geo-costpolicy rules by delivering said stored information using networkcommunications thereby delaying the use of network communications untilgeo-cost policy conditions are met.
 18. The computer readable medium asset forth in claim 17 wherein said software for queuing and completing amobile service comprises software for queuing and automaticallycompleting a wireless service selected from the group of sending a textmessage, receiving a text message, sending a voice message, receiving avoice message, sending picture, and receiving a picture.
 19. Thecomputer readable medium as set forth in claim 17 wherein said softwarefor queuing and completing a mobile service comprises software forautomatically dialing a telephone number.
 20. The computer readablemedium as set forth in claim 17 wherein said software for queuing andcompleting a mobile service comprises software for queuing andautomatically completing a wireless service selected from the group ofautomatically connecting to a web address, automatically downloading adata structure, and refreshing a stored web page from a source web page.21. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 17 wherein saidsoftware for providing a discount indicator comprises software forproviding an indicator selected from the group of a user icon, a textmessage, and a computer-readable data value.
 22. The computer readablemedium as set forth in claim 17 wherein said software for accessing ageo-cost policy comprises software for evaluating service classes basedupon a selection from the group of telephone number, buddy name, webaddress, and keyword.
 23. The computer readable medium as set forth inclaim 17 wherein said software for queuing and completing a mobileservice comprises software for automatically completing a queued serviceaccording to one or more geo-cost conditions selected from the group ofcurrently offered discount value for a given cell, a mobile devicebattery low indicator, a mobile device power-off request, a clock time,a calendar day, and a mobile device low wireless signal strengthindicator.
 24. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 17further comprising software for editing said geo-cost policy.